James Madison

James Madison's prominence and leadership at the Constitutional Convention have earned him the title "Father of the Constitution." He was an unassuming but confident statesman who, financially independent, could devote his abundant energies and exceptional intellect to public affairs. This commitment was most evident in his tireless efforts to protect individual liberty through the creation of a strong but compassionate central government. He believed "that a well-founded commonwealth may . . . be immortal." A note found among his writings entitled "Advice to my Country" concludes with the following, "The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is, that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated. Let the open enemy of it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened, and the disguised one as the serpent creeping with his deadly wiles into paradise."

James Madison was born March16,1751 in Port Conway virginia. His dad was also named James Madison. his mother is Eleanor conway. He attended the school of Princeton University. James had earned a nickname. He was not very fond of the nickname father of the constitution. He had earned this nickname for his contribution to the constitution. His contributions were that his Virginia plan served as the bases for debate in the development of the constitution. In 1789 as a member of the new U.S. Representatives James Madison introduced the first amendments or the Bill of Rights.Most importantly, Madison set in motion the process that would eventually lead to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He wrote extensively about deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation, and he organized a series of meetings of delegates from different states to discuss national economic problems. The Mount Vernon Conference of 1785 was convened to settle conflicting claims of Virginia and Maryland over navigation rights on the Potomac River. This conference, as Madison had hoped, underscored the fact that the Virginia-Maryland dispute was just one instance of controversy over interstate commerce. The Annapolis Convention of 1786, which Madison attended, was arranged to address the problem of interstate commerce in general, and again as Madison had hoped, it succeeded in demonstrating that commerce was only a part of the larger problems of disunity among the states and of weakness on the part of Congress because of the deficiencies of the Articles.

Madison spent the early postwar years engaged in intellectual pursuits. He studied law in an effort, as he put it, to obtain a profession that would depend as little as possible on the labor of slaves. He also studied the natural history of Orange County, sharing his findings with his friend and fellow natural history enthusiast, Thomas Jefferson. Madison later returned to the Virginia House of Delegates (1784-86). His influence can be seen in almost every piece of legislation of the period.

After the constitutional convention James went on to become the president of the United States. He served two terms (1809-1813)-(1813-1817). then unfortunatly James Madison died June 18,1836 at the montpelier estate in orange country virginia as a result of heart failure.

One interesting fact about James Madison is one of his famous qoutes "the advice nearist to to my heart and deepest in my convictionsis that the union of the States be cherished and perpetuated".